Data will be extracted from the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) medical records database, geocoded according to the street address so that the case number, incidence, etc could be mapped. The spatial data would be used to detect the aggregation of HIV cases, existence of "hot spots" and then determine if they may merit further investigation or may have occurred by chance. The results from these GIS-based analyses would address local variations in HIV prevalence and transmission.

Further study details as provided by National Taiwan University Hospital:

Enrollment:

1264

Study Start Date:

October 2008

Study Completion Date:

August 2009

Primary Completion Date:

June 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Detailed Description:

The transmission routes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are well known and many control programs focusing on risk groups and behavior have been undertaken. However, the risk factors of HIV transmission are not only at individual level (eg: demographic, behavior, and genetic risk factors), socioeconomic and environmental factors also take important roles. In Taiwan, few researches explored the spatial distribution of HIV infection. Studies in other countries observed a significant geographic variation in HIV infection. To understand the spatial pattern of HIV infection in depth, the present study aims to retrospectively investigate the epidemiological and geographic characteristics of HIV infection using the medical records database of National Taiwan University Hospital. A Geographic information system (GIS) and spatial statistics will be used to analyze the geographic patterns to determine whether spatial dispersion or clustering. There are two aims of this study. One is to investigate the epidemiology of HIV infection in Taipei City. The second is to analyze the spatial characterizes of HIV infection, including disease mapping, geographic correlation studies, and identifying the presence of HIV clusters and their potential spatial risk factors. In addition, we want to examine whether there are different distributions between different classificatory groups. Finally, we hope that our findings would give some direction for local health and policy planners to improve the HIV intervention and prevention strategies

Eligibility

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Sampling Method:

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

NTUH patients

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

HIV/AIDS patients of NTUH

Exclusion Criteria:

HIV/AIDS patient whose address cannot be geocoded

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01377272